RIDOT plans two-phase improvement for Providence Train Station

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation is planning a two-part improvement for the Providence Train Station. It’s a stop that has more than one million Amtrak and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter rail passengers who use it annually.
To date, RIDOT has identified $1 million for the first part of the project, anticipated to cost between $5 and $6 million.

TriMet, Caltrain continue to see strong ridership

Both Portland, Ore.-area TriMet and San Francisco, Calif.-area Caltrain are seeing strong ridership numbers.

Initial findings from the Caltrain annual ridership count show average weekday ridership at an all-time high, 42,354, an increase of 4,575 passengers per weekday, or 12.1 percent higher than 2011. This marks the second year ridership has increased, despite service cuts and fare increases driven by Caltrain’s on-going fiscal challenges.

Six Class 1s among TRANSCAER

Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response (TRANSCAER), a voluntary national outreach effort that focuses on assisting communities to prepare for and respond to a possible hazardous materials transportation incident, awarded six Class 1 railroads for its 2011 National Awards Recognition Program.

DART starts light rail train tests in Irving

Dallas Area Rapid Transit in Texas completed the first light-rail test train into Irving, as it completed the five-mile section between Bachman Station and the Irving Convention Center on Monday, April 9. The first section of the
14-mile Orange Line opens July 30.

Rep. Lee pushes for Texas high-speed rail

During Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee’s recent visit to Japan and South Korea, Japanese and South Korean officials both expressed interest in supporting and providing high-speed rail in the state of Texas. Congresswoman Jackson Lee is laying the groundwork to invite these officials to the 18th Congressional District to see first-hand the needs and plans for an expanded rail transportation system.

WMATA proceeds with “Metro Forward” work

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority released a schedule of planned major track work for the second half of 2012. WMATA’s massive rebuilding effort, known as Metro Forward, will resume with midday trackwork on Monday, April 16 and with weekend trackwork on Friday, April 20.

UTA’s FrontRunner to Provo opens in December

The Utah Transit Authority officially announced an opening date of Monday, December 10, 2012, for the new FrontRunner Provo to Salt Lake City line. The new 45-mile commuter rail line is an extension of the FrontRunner Salt Lake City to Weber County line that opened in April 2008.

NYCT FASTRACK coming to the 1, 2 and 3 lines

New York City Transit’s FASTRACK is returning to the Seventh Avenue Line. Metropolitan Transportation Authority New York City Transit conducted four FASTRACK line shutdowns in the first quarter of this year resulting in an unprecedented amount of work. During the first late-night shutdown on the Broadway/Seventh Avenue 123 corridor, 800 maintenance workers completed more than 400 tasks each night, a monumental effort that would have taken months under normal operations. And, according to NYCT, there is still more work to be done.

PARN and the IBT reach agreement

Pacific and Arctic Railway & Navigation Company (PARN) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 959 reached a tentative Collective Bargaining Agreement on March 29, 2012, covering the combined crafts and classes of shop crafts and maintenance-of-way employees.